Dangerous Games (Riley Jenson Guardian 4)

"I was beginning to think you'd stood me up." His voice was husky, deep, and in his dark gaze, lust now competed with the anger.

A shiver that was part desire, part trepidation, raced up my spine. "Couldn't escape work early, then couldn't get a cab." I shrugged casually. "I figured you'd wait."

He raised an eyebrow. "And why would you be so certain of that?"

I closed the distance between us, until my nipples - erect and hard inside the filmy confines of my little green dress - brushed the silk of his gray shirt. "Because you want me. Badly."

He made a sound low down in his throat, then wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled me close. For the briefest of moments, the memory of who and what he was rose and something inside resisted. Ruthlessly, knowing I had no other choice - that another part of me wanted no other choice - I pushed thought and resistance away. As his lips met mine, I kissed him urgently, giving in to the press of his body against mine, letting sensation fuel desire to greater heights.

His free hand slipped down my back, cupping my butt, pressing me hard against him. After a few minutes, he groaned softly and broke off our kiss.

"You're not," he said, his breath short and sharp, his lips brushing mine as he spoke, "wearing any panties."

"They tend to get in the way of a good time." I ran my hands down his arms, then slid them around his waist. The only way we could get any closer would be for him to slide deep inside. And part of me - most of me - wanted that. I was a werewolf, first and foremost, and sex was high on the agenda tonight. "Are you sure you want to have dinner with your friends?"

It was a question that had to be asked - a question that any normal, fiercely aroused woman would ask. If I didn't, he might think it odd. I just had to pray that he wouldn't take me up on the offer. I needed to get inside that house, discover what I could, and get the hell out. Flying solo with Jin wouldn't achieve any of those. Wouldn't achieve an end to this case, and that was the one thing I wanted above everything else.

"I have to." He briefly kissed my lips, my cheeks, my chin. "But I promise, it'll be worthwhile. John has some delicious entertainment planned."

And what sort of entertainment did a three-headed dragon and his dark lord deem delicious? Goose bumps flitted across my skin, but were quickly drowned under a new wave of need as Jin's touch slipped under the hem of my dress to caress my skin, my butt.

"More delicious than being with me?"

My voice was a husky purr, and a quiver ran through the body pressed so close to mine. "Oh, I intend to be with you. Just not here. Not yet."

"If you don't hurry, I might have to find someone else to satisfy my needs."

Humor flicked through his eyes. "That, too, might yet be accommodated." He stepped back, pulling away from my loose hug, then threaded one hand through mine. "Let's go."

He tugged me toward the house, and ushered me through an open gate. Kingsley's house was one of those modern ones, all concrete and sharp angles. My gaze ran up the monolithic front of the building, and I couldn't help thinking that with its barely-there slashes of glass, it almost looked as if the building had eyes. Dark beady eyes that were staring down at me. Judging me. Eyes that knew entirely too much.

A cold chill ran across my skin. I bit my lip, silently admonishing my imagination. It was just a building. Nothing more, nothing less.

Except that it housed a dark god, intent on wreaking havoc on the world at large.

Not only was I about to step into his den, but I was going to try and bug it.

And I had a bad feeling that if I didn't watch my step, it could be the last thing I ever did. ned my head against my hand and barely restrained a huge yawn. "This is going nowhere fast."

Jack handed me a coffee, his expression grim. "No one said breaking a mage's defense would be easy."

I sipped at the hot liquid in the cup. It couldn't be called coffee because it just didn't look, or taste, anything like it. Still, if it served the purpose of keeping me awake, I'd drink a gallon of the muck.

I eyed our captive through the one-way glass. Maisie was currently being interrogated by both a specialist in magic and a specialist in "interviewing" techniques. I'd seen the interviewers in action on several occasions over recent months, and knew their methods could get extremely gruesome. Unlike regular police, the Directorate didn't have to worry about prisoner rights. If the person being questioned posed a threat to the human population in any form or shape, then the Directorate could basically do what they wanted to get the required answers. Except, of course, if the person involved was human or part human. Then it got trickier.

Which was probably why the techniques being used today had been pretty mild so far. Maisie might be a mage of extreme power, but she was also human. By law, the Directorate had to tread cautiously.

My gaze moved to the spindly woman standing in the corner of the room. I hadn't even known we had a whole section of people specializing in magic, and I'd been working here for nearly eight years. Right now, she didn't seem to be doing a whole lot, but sweat was beginning to dot her creased forehead, and the white stones surrounding Maisie had taken on a glow that reminded me vaguely of the heat shimmer that rose off a road on a long hot summer day. Whether it was caused by our mage, or Maisie's powers testing her defenses, I wasn't entirely sure.

"How much longer do we have before Marg starts to weaken and the stones loose their ability to contain Maisie?"

Jack shrugged. "Marg will signal when her strength is giving out. As a general rule, she can last four or five hours if she's doing nothing more than boosting the strength of the warding stones."

"Why don't we just raid her mind telepathically?"

"I tried earlier, when you were talking to Quinn."

And hadn't that provided a whole lot of information. Quinn had never been free and easy with information, but right now, he was making like a clam and getting irritatingly amused when I got angry about it. Rhoan was currently in the process of having a little chat with our silent vampire, but I very much doubted he'd have any more success than I did. "And?"